The US Department of Energy (DoE) revealed on Thursday a funding allocation of up to $475 million (EUR 439 million) for five clean energy projects, including coal-to-solar initiatives, on current and former mine sites across five states.
Made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the funding will support projects in Arizona, Kentucky, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, encompassing various clean energy technologies such as solar, geothermal, battery energy storage, and pumped storage hydro.
To provide clarity on the scale of the projects, the DoE outlined descriptions for each, including their power generation and storage capacities where applicable.
In Kentucky, a coal-to-pumped storage hydro project aims to convert a former coal mine into a closed-loop, 287-MW pumped-storage hydroelectric (PSH) plant capable of producing 671,700 MWh of clean electricity annually.
In Nevada, plans include developing a solar photovoltaic (PV) plant and a battery energy storage system at three active gold mines, though specific capacities were not disclosed.
Pennsylvania's project focuses on former coal mining land, where a developer intends to build a 402-MW solar project, serving as a demonstration for future mine land-to-solar projects in the Appalachian region. The developer, Swift Current, aims to develop approximately 1,000 MW over the next five years.
In West Virginia, the proposal involves constructing a 250-MW solar PV plant at two former coal mines.
Lastly, the Arizona project aims to utilize clean geothermal heat for copper production, including the addition of a microgrid and battery energy storage system to reduce reliance on onsite thermal backup generators.
“This funding represents a significant step towards our goal of repurposing and revitalizing former mine sites for clean energy production,” stated a spokesperson from the DoE.
